Book Description
Reece Gilmore has come a long way to see the stunning view below her. As the sole survivor of a brutal crime back East, she has been on the run, desperately fighting the nightmares and panic attacks that haunt her. Reece settles in Angel's Fist, Wyoming - temporarily, at least-and takes a job at a local diner. And now she's hiked this mountain all by herself. It was glorious, she thought, as she peered through her binoculars at the Snake River churning below.
Then Reece saw the man and woman on the opposite bank. Arguing. Fighting. And suddenly, the man was on top of the woman, his hands around her throat . . .
Enjoying a moment of solitude a bit farther down the trail is a gruff loner named Brody. But by the time Reece reaches him and brings him to the scene, the pair has vanished. When authorities comb the area where she saw the attack, they find nothing.No signs of struggle. No freshly turned earth. Not even a tire track.
And no one in Angel's Fist seems to believe her. After all, she's a newcomer in town, with a reputation for being jumpy and jittery-maybe even a little fragile. Maybe it's time to run again, to move on . . .
Reece Gilmore knows there's a killer in Angel's Fist, even if Brody, despite his seeming impatience and desire to keep her at arm's length, is the only one willing to believe her. When a series of menacing events makes it clear that someone wants her out of the way, Reece must put her trust in Brody-and herself-to find out if there is a killer in Angel's Fist before it's too late.
Customer Reviews:
Easy and entertaining in a soap-opera type of way.......2007-10-06
Angels Fall is not going to help you broaden your literature horizons but it will be entertaining, if you're looking for a simple book to keep you busy. The book is well written, I've never read any of Nora Roberts books before but I was impressed.
The story in a nutshell is about a woman who moves to a small town from the big city because of a personal tragedy. She leaves behind all of her belongings, friends, and family and decides to live in this particular small Wyoming town. As with most small towns, everyone knows everyone and every body's business. So when this young, attractive, and mysterious woman coming to their town everyone has their eyes on her every move.
She ends up witnessing a murder but when the police investigate, there is no evidence of any crime or altercation. Therefore, she must be crazy. The story springs from there and the ending is a fun twist. The story does have a muted love story in the middle of the mystery, which I like, so all in all it was a good book.
I would recommend it to anyone who likes mysteries and for anyone who is looking for a book that you don't want to think too much when your reading it. Despite the fact that there is a murder in the book, the book is light and easy. Give it a try!
Story really dragged - not her best work.......2007-09-29
(Review by Bob's wife, Kathy) I love Nora Roberts' books. I've read almost all of them. And just like with any author I've read a lot of, I know her writing voice. I know what kind of heroes and heroines she favors.
But still...
Angel's Fall was *too* predictable for me. I could tell what was going on in her apartment immediately. Who couldn't? And it didn't take but one sentence, early on, for me to figure out who the murderer was. In fact, it was so obvious, so annoying to know, that I skipped to the end to see if I was right. Yep, I was. This is something that I very rarely ever do when reading a mystery. Mystery solved, I could find no reason to read the rest of the book. The "love" story was predictable and the characters annoying. The whole thing just dragged and dragged.
If you are new to Nora, pick another book to start with. If you are an old Nora fan like I am, make this one a library pick.
Sorry, Ms. Roberts. I can easily think of half a dozen books of yours that are my favorites. This one, however, made me think you need to take a break and go on vacation for a few weeks...get a change of scenery and some new ideas! It happens to all of us.
Angels Fall was just ok..........2007-09-03
I have to say I was disappointed in Angels Fall. I've read other Nora Roberts (and J.D. Robb) books and in comparison, this one really dragged; I had to fight my way through to finish it. The suspense picked up when they found who the murdered woman was and started to put the pieces together. Overall, rather predictable and not so exciting. I'm glad to be finished with this one...
Most Predictable Book I've Ever Read.......2007-08-09
This book was so predictable. I knew who the killer was half way through the book. The characters were good, thats about it. It's not a good suspense novel.
Strangely murder and humor mix well........2007-08-08
The already fragile victim from a shocking crime, survivor Reece Gilmour drifts into the small town of Angel's Fist, then stays while her car gets repaired. She gets a job as a cook, gets a small apartment. All big steps. But she still needs her doors locked and the lights on at night... She meets Brody, a local crime writer, and the sexual tension immediately tightens as Brody sees past her frightened, brittle surface to the incredibly brave woman, battling to overcome her fears. One day, on a deceptively peaceful hike, Reece is horrified to witness a terrible murder. She sees a man strangle a woman, who fights back until she dies. Freaked beyond belief, Reece runs screaming to Brody, just a little further down the trail, but when he and the sheriff investigate there's absolutely no evidence that anyone was there. No murdered woman, no body, no disturbance on the trails, nothing. Everyone except Brody thinks Reece is nuts, and they don't believe her story. Then funny little things start to happen, making Reece doubt her own sanity. Brody doesn't, however, and his faith in Reece makes her fall absolutely head over heels in love with him - to his disconcertment! Between the food, the intense loving, Brody wrestling with his book, and Reece wrestling with her demons, this is such a gripping read you won't want to put it down. ...I nearly guessed the villain, but I was wrong...
Average customer rating:
- Not Free SF Reader
- Even further back in time. Good, but predictable.
- Best of a so-so series
- Great read :)
- Understanding & Enjoying the World of Recluse
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Fall of Angels (Saga of Recluce)
L. E. Modesitt Jr.
Manufacturer: Tor Fantasy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
 Epic | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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The Chaos Balance (Saga of Recluce)
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The Death of Chaos (Saga of Recluce)
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The White Order (Saga of Recluce)
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The Order War (Recluce series, Book 4)
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Colors of Chaos (Saga of Recluce)
ASIN: 0812538951 |
Book Description
L. E. Modesitt's bestselling fantasy novels set in the magical world of Recluce have established a standard of entertainment in contemporary fantasy. "In Modesitt's universe, where good and evil, chaos and order, are in perpetual conflict, a young wizard finds that his destiny is to strike a balance, but at considerable personal cost. Modesitt creates a deeper and more intricate world with each volume," says Publishers Weekly. "Modesitt's elaborate and intelligent working out of a systemof magic and a system of technology parallel to it is becoming more the lifeblood of the Recluce books with every new volume. . . . His saga continues to gain in popularity," says Booklist. Each Recluce novel tells an independent story that nevertheless reverberates though all the other Recluce novels to deepen and enrich the reading experience.Now in Fall of Angels, Modesitt moves deep into Recluce's past to chronicle the founding of the Empire of the Legend, the almost mythological domain ruled by woman warriors on the highland plateau of the continent of Candar. He tells the story from the point of view of Nylan, the engineer and builder whose job it is to raise a great tower on the plateau known as the Roof of the World. Here the exiled women warriors will live and survive to fulfill their destiny. Here a revolutionary new society will be born . . . if Nylan can get the tower built and defenses in place before the rulers of the lowland nations come with their armies to obliterate them all. And if Nylan can learn to control the magical powers that are growing within him.Thus Modesitt relates the story of how magic comes into the world of Recluce, in a fantasy novel destined to please the growing Recluce audience and win new readers to the series.Fall of Angels is the sixth book of the saga of Recluce.
Customer Reviews:
Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-03
The Angels are aliens. Or, from their point of view, the people that populate this world are aliens.
A spacecraft of them land on the planet, and they have to work hard to survive. This story is the earliest Recluce tale, and it shows how the technological talents and genetics of the space-faring newcombers lead to the establishing of the magic of Order.
Even further back in time. Good, but predictable........2004-02-07
The Fall of Angels chronicles the arrival of the Angels on the world of Recluce, the founding of Westwind, and the birth of the Legend. The book follows the same general theme as most of the previous books, with an Order-mage/engineer forging weapons with which to defend against the forces of Chaos. I really liked the characters in the book, and Modesitt brings out his best a far as dialogue and character interaction.
While the book was really fun to read and and the story line progressed smoothly and quickly, I thought that it was very predictable (thus the sub 5-star rating). I mean, considering the fact that the reader knows that Westwind survives and that the Legend lives on, there weren't really too many possible outcomes for this one. Also, with Ryba's foresight, she kept predicting occurances that would come later in the book. I'd really be interested in reading more about Heaven itself.
Best of a so-so series.......2003-01-23
This book, along with "The Chaos Balance", are the only two books I would recommend to anyone who is interested in the Recluse Series. Although the same main character type is used once again in these two books (Fall of Angles and The Chaos Balance) as in the rest of the series, the background information and the supporting characters make these two books enjoyable. Especially when comparing the leader of the Angels (Ryba) against the leader of Lornth (Sillik).
The only major fault I have with series, is the lack of maps. The same map is provided to the reader in all of the hard-cover books of this series. Unfortunately, all the different books deals with different historical times of this imaginary world. Thus it is frustrating for the reader to keep track of the main character as he sojurns across the continent of Candar (Candar is where the majority of the stories takes place). If the publisher had read any of the books, he/she would have realized that the names of the countries and towns do not always match the names shown on the map. This is especially egregious in a series where each book represents a different historical period of time. Hint - Names of cities and countries changes as they are either destroyed or absorbed by other civilizations.
Great read :).......2002-07-25
I want to first mention that I'm not a big fan of sci-fi in books. I love fantasy (dungeons and dragons) books, but (generally) dislike fantasy TV/Movies because they don't do it well. My feelings on Sci-fi are usually the opposite. When I first started reading Fall of Angels I thought I'd made a huge mistake because it starts off as a straight sci-fi book, and yes, maybe those ray guns on the cover should have been a warning, but the covers on the previous Recluse books have been completely unrelated to the story inside, so I basically stopped looking at the covers.
This book has the usual extremely slow, hard to get into introduction that I've found in all the Recluse books I've read so far. This one was slightly less boring than usual, but I still found it took me a week to past the first quarter of the book.
Once you get into the book, describing it to you would make it seem really repetitive. Nylan builds a weapon, Ryba and the Guards use it to decimate the attackers, Nylan gets sad because of the use of force, repeat. ;) Sprinkle that with Nylan's comments about how stories ignore the boring building of societies and infrastructure, and pay attention to the big battles etc.
Anyway, I really enjoyed the twist of an advanced civilization getting used to the backwards word of Westwind. I liked getting the full story/background of the beginnings of Recluse. I think this was one of the better books from this series.
Understanding & Enjoying the World of Recluse.......2000-11-16
-L.E. Modesitt jr's Recluse series is a world of magic and balance. a world that will grab you and make you loss track of time as you are unable to put his Recluse books down. The author, recommends that you read his book in the order of they were published. If you are the person who likes to read the last 50 pages of a book first, and then skip around to different areas of the book as you read it through, then by all means, read the Recluse series in the order of publish. WAIT!..... If you are a reader who truly enjoys finding yourself part of the on going story, as read a series from the start of he story to its end. Then the Recluse series will grab you and not let you go until the conclusion of the series. L.E. Modesitt, jr. has written an 11 books series of the Recluse world so far. This author wrote the Magic of Recluse first. As be has published books, he has jumped around throughout the story time line of the world of Recluse, and put together books of set, and other single books, which he may add another book to that part of the story in a future published book. This author has written the story in books of set, that is the first three book of story: 1st book) "Fall of Angels", 2rd) "The Chaos Balance" & 3rd) "The Tower of the Sunset". Tells the birth and the destruction of kingdom of highly skilled warriors, with the third book leading into the creation of a new kingdom, (Recluse). Then the next book is, 4th book of the World of Recluse) "The Magic Engineer". Then Modesitt, jr. switches to the side of Chaos, and tells a story where the character's of Chaos will became heroes in your eyes too. So with time, you will gain a better understanding of the World of Recluse through the following books: 5th book) "The White Order", & 6th book) "the Color of Chaos". The next set of books that go together in the World of Recluse, are: 7th book) "The Order War", 8th book) "The Magic of Recluse", & the 9th book) "The Death of Chaos". As for the last two book that the author has written, he has drifted into the life of some of the troops found in the World of Recluse. My $0.02 worth.
Average customer rating:
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When an Angel Falls
Stephanie L Jarrett
Manufacturer: iUniverse, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0595428703 |
Book Description
Laura is a fallen angel struggling to find acceptance in a world torn apart by war. When a handful of spirits step in to help Laura along her journey toward forgiveness, others are reminded that there is more to a soul than the sum of its vices.
Laura's friends try to help her confront her shame, as the battle for Heaven escalates. While she is caught between those who shun her and those who want her destroyed, many spirits are coming to realize that Laura holds the keys to preventing their destruction.
When an Angel Falls is a story for the imperfect souls among us who strive to forgive, and who seek forgiveness.
Amazon.com
Victoria Clark traveled across most of Eastern Europe to write Why Angels Fall. Having worked for six years as a journalist in Romania, the former Yugoslavia, and Russia, Clark was fascinated by the Eastern Orthodox churches and keen to unravel their histories and beliefs. To do so, she journeyed from Mount Athos, to Serbia, Macedonia, Greece, Romania, Russia, Cyprus, and finally Istanbul, interviewing clergy and other believers. We're treated to a series of vivid cameos, a few of whose subjects glow almost visibly with holiness, a few terrify, and many show qualities rare and needed in the West. As Clark puts it, after the ancient split between eastern and western Christianity, "each side lost something it could not happily do without ... at the risk of oversimplifying for the sake of clarity, western Christendom can be said to have lost its heart, eastern Christendom its mind."
Her keenness to explain Orthodoxy to Westerners stems from a fear that the continent is in the process of fracturing along a 1,000-year-old fault line, between the Catholic and Protestant west and the Orthodox east. The book combines high-quality, highly readable travel writing with a powerful mix of politics and religion. Most of all, perhaps, it demonstrates the power of history, and of different peoples' conflicting versions of history. Again and again, Clark finds the present in the grip of the past. In Serbia, for example, she cannot escape the legends surrounding the destruction of the Serbs' medieval empire in 1389, and the death of the venerated Prince Lazar: "the battle of Kosovo's interruption of Serbia's golden greatness has become a cataclysm to rival man's expulsion from the Garden of Eden in the minds of Serbs.... Prince Lazar is the key to understanding the Serbs' deep conviction that, however many wars they initiate, they remain a nation of victims and martyrs." --David Pickering, Amazon.co.uk
Book Description
Victoria Clark has the mind of a historian and the eye for detail possessed by the best novelists. In Why Angels Fall, she combines her gifts to give the reader a look at the sometimes mysterious world of Eastern Europe's Orthodox church. Majestic in their gilt encrusted robes and mitres, the Orthodox churchmen of Europe do convey a mysterious and arcane image. Combining history with contemporary detail, Clark traces the Orthodox faith through the embattled and fading world of late Byzantium to the present. Journeying through Greece, Russia, Macedonia, Romania, Cyprus, and the former Yugoslavia, Clark has met monks, nuns, bishops, and archbishops. Within a religion that traditionally has not accorded full status to women, Clark visits places that women have rarely been allowed to visit and asks questions that women have never before asked. Clark reveals an altogether different but equally engaging European legacy of worship with far-reaching consequences.
Customer Reviews:
Kickass Book!.......2007-07-16
I am Orthodox, and this Englishwoman is a good writer. I liked it, and she does not hide her bias. Good for her. Read it - altho I sure as "H" wouldn't pay the US$50+ they want for it new! LORD HAVE MERCY indeed!
Propaganda and vitriol, not just "bias".......2006-02-22
The danger in this book that pretends to be "objective", is that some will believe the author in spite of obvious clues as to her imagination at work: she is not just biased, but elitist, arrogant and out of her depth entirely without realizing it. Her latest book "Holy Fire" is at least listed as FICTION. This no doubt is also fictionalized.
Ignorance combined with arrogance is often found in those who judge Orthodoxy by its outward poverty, simplicity of expressions of the Faith and general lack of pretension in rural churches especially. That she would vent her hatred against those who were so kind to her - our Orthodox fathers and mothers - in their dire conditions in the Balkans, takes great hardness of heart on her part. I truly thought that the Vatican sent her on one of their "hit pieces" against Eastern Orthodox.
As a convert to Orthodoxy, having been a Roman Catholic novice well-schooled in the philosophical Augustinian paganisms, and a graduate of Protestant seminary, I can say with some authority that the Ancient Orthodox Faith is the One founded by Christ - with the history and traditions to prove it. Our Orthodox Christianity will terrify those who fear its spiritual power, and out of Fear - as in this author's case - comes the vitriolic vileness of many of her descriptions of our clergy and faithful. God keep anyone from believing or even wasting their time reading this nonsense.
Her latest attempt "The Holy Fire" is listed as FICTION by the publisher - again filled with diatribes against "stinking herds of greek and russian peasants" just to repeat one forgettable phrase. I believe that this "Angels Fall" book is also Fiction based on some experiences but falsified in order to prove her hatred to have some basis...
Green eggs and Spam.......2005-11-21
Wow! Lets go write a book about those other white christians. You know the ones that are warm but strange and definately not up to British standards.
Let's poke fun at what they think about women and nationalism. Let us congradulate ourselves as always being in the right time and in the right place. Then lets skip half the Othodox world, ignore what was there before Christianity (and still is) and pronounce a thesis based on this sardonic approach. This is what you have here, green eggs and spam. Not to be confused with reality. Not even a mention of Roxolana, the Orhtodox Queen of the Turks, let alone Berehinia the nature god.
Yes, but..........2005-03-02
I'm sure Victoria Clark's heart is the right place, and I certainly think Western Europe could do more to understand the Orthodox tradition (and vice versa), but there's so much in her book that seems to me to be point blank wrong, or selectively interpreted... Just a couple of examples...
Her Byzantine history is essentially re-cast to selectively support her intepretation of the modern influence of Hesychasm on Orthodoxy today. She essentially states that Constantinople would probably not have fallen to the Turks without the 'defeatist' attitude of Hesychasm. Yet the final decline of the late Byzantine Empire has far more to do with A) the incompetence of Andronicus II; B) the civil war between Andronicus II and Andronicus III; C) the civil war between the Cantacuzenes (John VI) and Paleologi (John V); D) the arrival of the plague in the immediate wake of John VI's victory in the wake of that civil war; E) the hostility of virtually every neighbouring state (Orthodox, Catholic or Muslim) to the late Byzantine state. The controversy over Hesychasm hardly helped the stability of the late Byzantine state, but putting the blame for the events of 1453 on Hesychasm strikes me as nothing more than a distortion of existing historiography in order to suit a modern argument.
Another worrying example of Clark's distorting way with words... In her matter of fact statement that 'In the eyes of Russian Churchmen today Boris Yeltsin had committed a far more heinous sin the Soviets ever had...' (pg. 273-4), she's stating that _all_ Russian churchmen believe that the decentralisation of the state and the advent of western consumerism are far worse sins that the advent of the Bolshevik state's official atheism. There are no doubt Russian clerics who believe that, just as there are undoubtedly Russian clerics who are fairly nasty anti-Semites (another favourite Clark theme), but to casually tar all Russian clergy with that sweeping generalisation? That strikes me as factually unsupportable - a recent interview with Metropolitan Kyrill of Kaliningrad and Smolensk (available in English on the Moscow Patriarchate's web page, though I concede the latter is hardly an impartial source) amply demonstrates that there are senior clerics who are deeply disturbed by the use of religion to justify extremist nationalist positions.
Finally, Clark's implication that Orthodox history makes Eastern Europe uniquely prone to extreme nationalism simply doesn't work for me. There are many nasty nationalist movements in the Catholic/Protestant west, many of them deeply associated with their religious roots - Catholic nationalists in Croatia and the whole Northern Ireland dispute immediately spring to mind. And if we go back 30-40 years, we also have Franco in Spain... I think there's an argument to be made for how nationalist ideology has replaced communist ideology in much of Eastern Europe and central Asia, but I would strongly dispute Clarke's argument that the modern strength of this nationalism is somehow tied into a uniquely Orthodox mindset.
All of which makes it all the more frustrating that 'Why Angels Fall' is otherwise a well-written, entertaining book, which does have some genuine insights into what makes Orthodox Europe different from Catholic/Protestant Europe. And her plea for a deeper understanding of those differences is certainly timely. It's just that, for all her years living in Eastern Europe, there's too much wrong with her supporting arguments and interpretations for her themes to be convincing.
[mea culpa: I'm not Orthodox myself, but my wife is - and is the granddaughter of a Russian Orthodox priest at that. This may well influence my perspective on Clarke's book]
On Angels' Wings........2004-06-03
_Why Angels Fall: A Journey through Orthodox Europe from Byzantium to Kosovo_ by English journalist Victoria Clark is an openly unobjective description of various elements in Orthodoxy from a "non-practicing" Catholic. That said, this is otherwise an interesting book on Orthodoxy in Europe. The cover reflects the author's rather negative tone: it features an illustration Blessed Pasius Velikovsky laying helplessly on a bed. Her title, "Why Angels Fall," refers to what she claims is Orthodoxy's greatest evil--affiliating itself with ethnic nationalism, anti-Westernism and in some cases anti-Semitism. It was considered the heresy of "Philytism." Clark considers this "base" because it tends to resist the global hegemony of liberalism and feminism. Her smug, condescending worldview makes itself readily apparent when she starts her narrative by slamming Mt. Athos for its thousand year rule of totally banning women from entering. Clark describes a handful of bishops, monks, nuns and various other prelates but mostly highlights the negative impressions they made upon her, usually their zenophobic, misogynist, anti-Western, anti-Semitic statements. The Orthodox clergy are portrayed largely as ignorant, racist, sexist barbarians. She is also rather wary of Eastern Europe's monastic revival as giving ethnic tensions a renewed vigor, although she praises the spirituality of the Hesychasts who practice Orthodoxy's tradition of interior prayer. This book is one of the few sources of information I've run across about the political involvement of Orthodox prelates in the post-communist era. The Orthodox world has been shrinking between Western and Islamic expansion on both sides but it holds onto a considerable amount of turf today and Clark divides her book according to her travels in Orthodoxy's bastions: Mt. Athos, Serbia, Macedonia, Greece, Romania, Russia, Cyprus and Istanbul. Orthodoxy has nothing to fear from critical books like this. Its ultimate victory will be moral and eschatological (On Angels' Wings!), even if it is doomed to fall as a political authority like the Christian emperors of Rome, Constantinople and Moscow.
Also recommended: _The Black Hundred_ by Walter Laqueur about the post-communist political right in Russia, and _The Orthodox Church_ by Timothy Ware for a decent outline of Church history from a genuine Orthodox (Ware's a British convert) perspective.
Book Description
A vicar's daughter, Juliet Grafton-Moore is also the proprietress of Angel's Fall, a house where London's ladies of the night recieve shelter from their past. It is an institution despised by distinguished peers and peasants alike, a place where the women learn by Juliet's pristine example -- and no men are allowed. But this rule is soundly broken when Juliet, suddenly besieged by an angry mob, is swept to safety by the dark-eyed, notorious Sabrehawk....
This sword-wielding legend, also known as the dashing Adam Slade, expects merely to fulfill a promise when he takes this spirited beauty under his wing. But upon seeing Juliet he is moved by her gentle blue eyes, her golden curls, and her admirable will. A man who has fought the fiercest of foes, Adam now finds his greatest challenge in protecting this lady...and resisting the unimagined heights of their growing passion....
Customer Reviews:
Touching and adventurous.......2000-11-07
I thought this book was quite enjoyable. The main characters were wonderful and appealing, and the connection between them was great. I would have liked to have seen more of the individual women at Angel's Fall, or Sabrehawk's sidekick, Fletcher. They were somewhat forgotten as the story goes on. But for the most part, the book was well written and very enjoyable and heart warming. Through the challenges that Julie had to face, she strived to stay strong and pessimistic, even when the town tries to run her off. And as she fell in love with the strong Sabrehawk, she still strived to keep her independance. I recommend this book to anyone that likes adventurous romances with just a touch of mystery.
Beautiful.......1998-11-14
This book had me crying and wishing for an Adam Slade of my own! After all, who wouldn't want a man with a heart of gold, and a body tough enough to soak up all of life's sorrows for you? Angel's Fall was completely endearing, and I'd recommend it to everyone, even the toughest of critics.
Download Description
It was five years since Elizabeth Alcester had laid eyes on her former stable boy, Ivan Tramore . . . five years since her world had collapsed in devastating ruin around her. Now, penniless and desperate, she finds herself at the mercy of a cruel, ruthless stranger--a man who vows to possess her, whose hot searing caresses fan the flames of her darkest desires. Tramore had returned home in triumph--the unwanted bastard was now Lord Iva, eleventh Marquis of Powerscourt--the most powerful man in London. Yet one woman had sworn to defy him . . . the proud beauty whose touch had branded him forever. But when at last he holds Lissa trembling in his merciless embrace, his lust for vengeance suddenly explodes in a frenzied fever of passion, and now no power on heaven or earth can tear him from the innocent arms that hold him captive, or protect her from the rapturous moment when angels fall.
Customer Reviews:
Not McKinney's best.......2007-04-28
Rarely have I disliked a heroine more than Lissa. She is incredibly spoiled, arrogant, and prideful. I never could understand why the hero, Ivan, did not just forget her and find someone else. I really could not believe this woman loved him.
Lissa's family is impoverished, this was not always so. In fact, Ivan was employed as a stable boy by her father. They had the beginnings of love long ago but then Lissa cruelly rejected Ivan, with a slap across his face with a riding crop for good measure.
Ivan, who has been supporting her secretly for years, should have been more open about his largess. But with Lissa's pride she would have had her family begging in the streets before she accepted charity from him. To her credit she does take a wage earning job from him. She treats Ivan as if he is a womanizing, lout. Even worrying what kind of negative effect he will have on her little brother. This is love?
The writing is good and Megan McKinney has written other exceptional historicals but this is not one I would recommend.
wow! So different .......2007-04-22
Coming into this book, I thought it would be like many other books. The tortured servant who gets rich and reverses roles with the heroine, seeking revenge. So this actually is the plot, but what makes this book so different and so memorable is the passion that you can just feel between the two characters.
Lissa and Ivan love each other, you can see that the whole novel, but they hate each other just as much and both are tortured by the other, unable to admit to themselves or the other, for fear of getting hurt, that they love. Because you feel so deeply for these two charcters, they become very lifelike and very likeable.
This is one of the best romance novels I have ever read; it makes me feel; it gets into my head and I cannot forget it. Read it.
So much hate for a romance book.......2005-07-04
I kept reading this book to see if the protagonists would get a truly lovely moment together but I wasn't granted my wish. Until the last pages there is too much hate and doubt for my taste. I really hoped it would get better but it didn't this book just got me angry every time I started reading it.
I like vengeful cads, too, but this one lacks a motive........2005-02-28
I like a tortured hero in need of redemption as well as anyone, but there was no excuse for this one's cruelty to a woman who had treated him badly when she was just a girl.
Yes, she struck him and left a scar. Nasty, that. But considering what she suffered that day and in the years since (I won't spoil the tragedy for you, but trust me, it's awful) and that he's fully aware of all this before he returns for his revenge, the degree of contempt with which he treats her isn't something you'd expect from a sane adult.
So naturally, I couldn't put the book down.
Few things are sexier than an unrepentant cad who doesn't know yet that he's in love. But I need a believable motive for my cads' behavior, or I feel uncomfortable reading them. There's something masochistic about finding such a man attractive. The anxiety can compel me to keep reading, but when there are no light moments to relieve the darkness, it's not entirely enjoyable.
So why bother? Because I enjoy McKinney's writing style, she does a lovely job of building and sustaining sexual chemistry between her protangonists, and the sex scenes are worth waiting for.
I can't help but compare this author with others of comparable talent, but whose Cruel & Remorseless Cads are not just sexy, but somehow likeable: Judith Ivory ("Untie My Heart"); Christina Dodd ("A Well Favored Gentleman," The Governess Brides series); Connie Brockway ("A Dangerous Man," "My Dearest Enemy"); Liz Carlyle ("The Devil You Know" and 'most anything else she writes). No matter how selfish and despicable the behavior of a typical cad by one of these writers, I always know there will be glimpses of likeability and signs that a conscience is coming to the fore. The best cads are endowed with something inherently lovable besides a strong sex drive and an effective glower: a touch of self-depracating humor; an inner monologue that explains the motive for continuing bad behavior. That's what makes them adults and not pouting boys.
It would have been easier to like the protagonist in "When Angels Fall" if he hadn't known all along about the tragedies that had dogged the heroine since the day he left. But it was clear from the opening chapters that he'd been having her spied on since the day he left, knew the adversity she had faced, and with how much courage and dignity, yet he'd continued with his plot to make her penniless, seduce her, and subject her to one last humiliation by refusing marriage.
I kept thinking there would be a revelation that would explain him.
"Maybe," I thought, grasping at straws, "maybe he's planning a surprise party for his beloved and he's only *pretending* to ruin her, to make sure it will be a surprise." Lame, I know; but I would have settled for it.
When Angels Fall is a passionate read, but a painful one. I plan to read more of Meagan McKinney, but I hope to find 5% less anguish next time. Any suggested titles?
The book that started my journey to like romance book.......2004-02-06
I love this book. It was the book that made me fell inlove with the hero and heroine, and made me want to read more romance book. The thing I love about Meagan Mckinney's book are that her hero are very manly and loving and reasonable and responsible. Just my opinion, but I couldn't find this other type of hero in other writer's book, except Barbara Cartland. And the heroine's personality as well. That is why Meagan Mckinney is my favorite romance author. She is the only one I would buy a romance book from. Maybe the only complaint I have about this book is that the ending is too abrupt and should have been expanded like many of her other ones. My favorite book from Meagan Mckinney is "The Ground She Walks Upon".
Amazon.com
Nestled into the hills of the Northern Cascade Mountains in Washington state, Liam and Mike (Michaela) Campbell have a picture-perfect marriage and family. While Liam enjoys the comforts of being a small-town doctor with an old family name, Mike cares for their two children and her beloved horses. But when a horrible accident leaves Mike in a coma, Liam frantically searches for a way to ignite her memories and awaken her. What he discovers makes him question the foundations of their love, as Mike has a secret past as "Kayla" and a previous marriage to her first love, Julian True. Though still in a coma, Mike responds to these stories. Liam knows he must contact Julian, and gamble his future on the past memories of a woman whose true identity and feelings are unknown to him.
Kristin Hannah's talent for writing poignant tales of duty, passion, identity and family bonds made last year's On Mystic Lake a bestseller, and will certainly rake in the fans this time. (Imagine Danielle Steel without the Gucci bags or aging corporate CEOs.) While the majority of the novel has our heroine knocked out on a hospital gurney, Hannah makes valiant efforts to bring Mike's character to life, and Liam's enduring love should keep you rooting for him and reaching for the hanky. --Nancy R.E. O'Brien
Book Description
When Mikaela Campbell, beloved wife and mother of two, falls into a coma, it is up to her husband, Liam, to hold the family together, to care for their grieving, frightened children. Day after day, he sits by her bedside, telling stories of the precious life they have built, hoping, always hoping, that she will wake up. Then he discovers evidence of her secret past: a hidden first marriage to Julian True, a man no woman could resist . . . or forget. Desperate to bring Mikaela back at any cost, Liam turns to the one person who could make her respond— and who could take her out of his arms forever.
ANGEL FALLS is a moving portrayal of marriage and commitment, and of an ordinary man who risks everything in the name of love.
From the Paperback edition.
Customer Reviews:
A wonderful read!.......2005-09-27
Mikaela (Mica) Campbell is thrown from a horse and is so seriously injured that she falls into a long-term coma. Mica's husband, Dr. Liam Campbell, is left to care for their children. While sitting by Mica's hospital bed, willing her to recover, Liam talks endlessly to her. He recreates their life together through their shared history.
Inadvertently, Liam discovers the identity of Mica's first husband and father to her first child. Julian is a 'huge' movie star who was the love of her life. Julian, a shallow man, is convinced that he may be the person who is able to bring Mica out of her coma and agrees to travel to her bedside. Mica emerges from the coma, and what happens then is what helps her look at life through different 'colored' glasses.
Angel Falls is a family drama about how tragedy impacts the individual members and how they rise to the occasion and pull together. And it is about a loving, gentle husband who deeply loves his wife and will do what is necessary to help her recover; even if it means he might lose her.
Hannah's characters are richly drawn and the plot is compelling. It is a book you will enjoy and I guarantee that you will recommend it to others.
Armchair Interviews highly recommends Angel Falls.
Angel Falls by Kristin Hannah.......2005-08-19
This is the first novel I've read by this author, and I'm on Amazon right now searching for more of her books! On one hand, I agree with some viewers that this was a light read, but on the other hand, it was also emotionally intriging. I have never cried while reading a book, but I did so at the beginning AND at that end of this novel! What a great story -- I couldn't put it down. You are rooting for the main couple in this book from start to finish, and your heart just goes out to the children in the story. I can't say enough good things about Ms. Hannah's writing. I'm certainly a dedicated fan now.
A Touching Story.......2005-01-23
This book brings Mikayla's life into the open. She is a loving wife with two children and known throughout the small town of Angel Falls. She suffers from a head injury and goes into a coma. Her husband sits with her, talking and singing, bringing her flowers, doing everything he can to wake her. The only word she says is "Jules" and her husband figures out, with the help of her mother and a dress he found in her closet, that she was once married to movie star Julian True. At the end of his ideas, he calls Julian, hoping he will remember her and come to visit her and be able to awake her. The family is tested as Mikayla has to choose which life she will return to and where her love and loyalty lie. Her husband's love never ceases and he put himself on the line for her, but will it end in her leaving him behind?
Which is the true love?.......2004-10-10
This is a very enjoyable romance novel. Married to a doctor, Liam Campbell, in a small town in northwest Washington state, Mikaela falls from a horse, strikes her head and enters a coma from which it seems she may never awaken. But Liam, the narrator of this tale, does not give up hope. He spends long hours by her bed telling her of his love, her two kids and memories they share, hoping something will awaken the woman within. His efforts produce naught. Then he discovers in Mikaela's closet mementoes she has kept of her first marriage. He knew she was married before but is startled to learn that she was married to world-famous movie star Julian True. Seeing the mementoes, he realizes that she has never stopped loving True. When he mentions True's name, she blinks. After much anguish he decides to contact True in the hope that his voice may awaken Mikaela from her slumber. True comes to town, the plot thickens and in the end true love prevails. But is it True love? Read the book to find out.
Gripping Love Story!.......2004-03-15
I enjoyed this story very much and believe that anyone who likes books of this nature will enjoy this story as much as I did!
Book Description
In Angels Ride Bikes, Francisco Alarcón invites readers to experience autumn in Los Angeles, where dreams can come true. In the poet's imagination, mariachis play like angels, angels ride bikes, and the earth dances the cha-cha. In this bilingual edition, the images and the poems bring to life the people and places from Alarcón's childhood.
Book Description
Arguably no other author has inspired more musicians than has Howard Phillips Lovecraft. Here, for the first time, is a book documenting the music inspired by the works of this literary genius, with insights provided by the artists. The book features a foreword by H. P. Lovecraft expert S. T. Joshi and cover artwork by Joseph Vargo.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent for Lovecraft or music lovers alike.......2006-10-28
The Strange Sound of Cthulhu starts with an introduction to Lovecraft's life. This provides good background for readers who are there for the musical aspect and unfamiliar with his writing. It is strait-forward, giving just the information needed to understand how he could still have an impact on music today, almost seventy years after his death.
The rest of the book is broken down into the musical genres he inspired. From psychedelic rock to country, groups little heard of all the way to big names, such as Black Sabbath and Metallica, have attributed some of their inspiration to Lovecraft.
Hill analyzes the songs--and even group names--that have roots in the literature of Lovecraft. The book compares lyrics with Lovecraft prose, and touches on music rumored to have Lovecraft ties. He gives details of each song, and in many cases, interviews with the artists behind the music. They discuss how their music ties in with Lovecraft, how they were introduced to his writing, and even their favorite Lovecraft tale.
Though the idea of seeing the music described in words may sound dull to some, Joshi was correct in the forward when he said, "Gary has that rarest of skills among music critics: the ability to describe a song, whether vocal or instrumental, in such a way that readers seem to hear it running through their heads."
Though Hill claims that the book is in no way exhaustive on the subject, it is as close to being exhaustive as it can get. It is designed to snare the readers that are there for the music to start reading Lovecraft, and the readers there for Lovecraft to look out for the music. I found myself getting out my old music to listen for what Hill describes.
Books:
- Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, Book 6)
- Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, Book 6)
- Codes & Cheats Winter 2007 Edition: Over 16,000 Secret Codes (Prima Official Game Guide)
- Condemnation (Forgotten Realms: R.A. Salvatore's War of the Spider Queen, Book 3)
- Crucible: Spock--The Fire and the Rose (Star Trek)
- Dead Girls Don't Write Letters
- Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries
- Dragon Wing (The Death Gate Cycle, Book 1)
- Dragonsinger (Harper Hall Trilogy, Volume 2)
- Dungeon Master's Guide: Core Rulebook II (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying)
Books Index
Books Home
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Ricochet: A Novel
